MUMBAI: A self-proclaimed spiritual leader’s arrest in Maharashtra in a sexual assault case and videos of him assaulting women has led to the Opposition dubbing the incident as Maharashtra’s ‘Epstein files’. Ashok Kharat’s arrest from Nashik in a rape case has led to the Opposition slamming the state government due to his alleged links to senior politicians of ruling alliance. Like the Epstein files, there are allegedly 58 videos of assault recorded by Kharat, as per the Opposition.UBT Sena MP Sanjay Raut said: “All this is like Jeffrey Epstein files. In fact, it is more horrifying than that. I have got a few videos. I believe there are some people from BJP and the ruling alliance. If the police has extracted 56 such clips from his phone, then the Maharashtra government will fall.”While it is unclear as to how many videos or how many more women Kharat had abused, there is at least one video that has gone viral where Kharat is seen abusing a woman in his office after conducting a fake ritual. One of Kharat’s office employees is facing a case in Shirdi for threatening a woman by leaking her obscene photos and clips. Kharat is accused of luring unsuspecting women with intoxicants and then abusing them and filming them.Raut trained his guns on the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, Rupali Chakankar, for being associated with Kharat. “What is the job of the chairperson of the Women’s Commission? She is supposed to get justice for women who are facing injustice. But here, she is seen washing feet of a man accused of rape. Ministers are being seen with this man.”Kharat was photographed with deputy CM Eknath Shinde in 2022 when the latter visited the Shri Shivnika Sansthan Temple which Kharat is associated with. The real heat is being faced by NCP leader Rupali Chakankar, a trustee of the temple trust along with Kharat and there are photos and videos of Chakankar with Kharat in public. In one photo, Chakankar is holding an umbrella for Kharat and in another she is seen washing Kharat’s feet.In the wee hours of Wednesday, Kharat was arrested after a 35-year-old woman complained to the police that Kharat had sexually abused her for three years from 2022 to 2025 under the guise of resolving her personal problems.Chakankar has claimed that she was not aware of Kharat’s activities and that the law should take its own course. Rupali Thombre Patil, a NCP leader and at loggerheads with Chakankar, has sought her resignation.Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has constituted an SIT to probe the case. Kharat has been remanded to police custody till March 24.
